It wasn’t the actual number of rebounds snagged by freshman Sophie Zadel on Wednesday that impressed Colorado women’s basketball coach JR Payne.

The number – 14, unofficially – was impressive, but it was how Zadel got those boards during an exhibition against Colorado School of Mines that turned heads.

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“The cool thing about Sophie’s rebounds is they’re not just rebounds, they’re like ‘aah!’ rebounds,” Payne said in trying to express Zadel’s aggression. “She is getting up, she is snatching the ball out of the air. Like, they’re fun rebounds. A couple of them I was like, ‘Woo!’ because she just is aggressive. We love that.”

Rebounding wasn’t a big issue for the Buffs a year ago, when they went 21-13 and fell just shy of the NCAA Tournament. But, it might be a strength th

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